LONG BLOG

OK, its late. I'm kinda grumpy. My roommate is drunk and left Cocoa Krispies all over the living room carpet, burning biscuts in the oven and noodles that got neglected so long they didn't have water to boil in! They almost totally burned and what did burn has adhered itself to the bottom of the nice glass pot that is MINE. Its because of this style of drunken "cooking" that we have roaches nesting in kitchen now. Words will be had with the landlord because I am just at my wit's end.

I never had roaches before this roommate because everything I cook is premade, the pans washed clean of food or I just got lazy and hit Cook-Out or the mexican restaurant for dinner. While I have resolved to cut back on going out for lunch and dinner, this is not making it easy.

But enough complaining, I'll channel this rage into a blog and (kinda) celebrate some things I liked in 2012 in gaming. No top tens, nothing in any particular kind of order - just whatever I'm thinking of as I think it!

Favorite game not from 2012 that I caught up to in 2012

I spent more time in Fallout New Vegas this year than in any other game possibly barring Xenoblade and Skyrim. Something about its openly quirky nature put it heads (because there were lots of decapitations) and shoulders above Fallout 3 for me and Obsidian's weightier approach to choice was much appreciated.

Best meathead that was cooler than James Vega

Reyn may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer, but he always knows what time it is and he's a good pal to Shulk and co. in Xenoblade Chronicles. The best part about Reyn, of course, is he has a point - he's THE tank. He's reliable and always there to get you out of a jam.

James Vega of Mass Effect 3, on the other hand, had a "Why the fuck are you here?" quality about him. Granted he still had more of a point than Jessica Chobot's character who I told to piss off, but not much. At least he stayed out of the way in the hanger 95% of the time. I just took EDI with me instead.

I'm just getting these three things together to avoid repeating myself. Juliet Starling is a lovably stupid girl and that's fine because her arcade world of zombies is stupid fun to be in. Jessica Nigri did a great job cosplaying her and a chainsaw that has a phone, speed boosts, a gun and emits rainbows is a pretty awesome, versatile and convenient weapon to have. Add a web browser and 4G/Wi-Fi capability and its probably better than an iphone.

Also, if Jessica would like to arrange a body swap with me, that would be awesome.

Favorite status ailment

If I have to be cursed and turned into food, at least the Tempura Wizard is a step up from Kid Icarus' classic Eggplant Wizard curse, which made me a boring vegetable. I had eggplant for the first time this year and it really wasn't anything to write home about. Fried shrimp I'm much more OK with.

Now I want some popcorn shrimp and a tub of ketchup...

Most practical magic/Creepiest old lady

Dishonored had the most interesting mix of magic in any game this year. Not content to leave you with generic spells like elemental magic, Corvo Attano and others granted power by The Outsider had magic that could be used to stealth and kill creatively. Teleport with blink, stop time and leave an explosive gift for city guards, summon plague rats, reduce ambushed enemies to ash - it had it all.

And Granny Rags was totally creepy. Its probably not all that surprising she never kept a suitor with that furnace she keeps in her lair.

Favorite fanbase implosion

2012 had plenty of publishers and developers with opportunities to piss fans off. I've always been one of those people that's in like but not totally in love with Bioware to the point I think they poop gold like some of their fans. This year went from watching fans freak out over female writers having opinions, to freaking out over endings to Bioware losing it and asking the fanbase "How does we video gaems?" - it almost never got old.

I don't really mean Bioware any ill, I obviously like Mass Effect, Dragon Age and I've read about the direction Dragon Age III is going it. I like the idea that they've listened enough to know that getting back to things like exploration is important to RPG fans, but at the same time they take two steps backward and won't let you pick a race in DA3.

Here's a thought: Half-elf, Half-dwarf or human protagonist. It'll be like Spacer, Colonist or Earthborn! This way, you get your talky human-ish protagonist and I can pick their origin in a meaningful way. Just make sure NPCs talk about that racial background and the character's sex - I don't want every new Bioware protagonist to be another version of Commander Shepard.

Just a thought from my brain to your brains - a brain that will hopefully be occupying Jessica Nigri's body soon.

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About Pixie The Fairyone of us since 2:32 PM on 12.21.2012

I am a level 80 fairy that can cast Ziodyne on her enemies or give +30 to each stat to any of your demons via Sacrificial Fusion in the Cathedral of Shadows.

Don't sacrifice me, though, I'm helpful! I can heal and revive you. I'm also one of Destructoid's community managers! I promote blogs, moderate comments and write stuff.

I'm a busy gal, so fuse someone else!

When I'm not helping decide the fate of humanity, I'm probably roaming the open world, hunting monsters, rolling into a ball to access secret passages or seeing if my Paragon rating is high enough for discounts at the mall.

For other things and stuff about me you can read here, here and here. You will learn of my origins, my trials and tribulations and how I became a superpixie!

Finally, I am not affiliated with Atlus and will not fit in your COMP, Demonica, gauntlet or compendium.